Abstract
A new welding method, flux bands constricting arc (FBCA) welding, is proposed to compensate for the shortage of insufficient weld width of laser welding T-joints in high steel sandwich panels. The arc behavior (arc burning position, arc shape, arc heat, and arc stability) before and after sticking the flux bands (GMAW and FBCA welding) to the ultra-narrow gap groove was tested. Results indicate that flux bands have solid-wall constricting effect (SWCE) and thermo-compression effect (TCE) on the arc and self-producing slag and gas function in FBCA welding. In ultra-narrow gap groove, the arc burning position climbing up phenomenon (APCP) occurs without flux bands. The SWCE of flux bands on the arc effectively suppresses the APCP because of the insulation of flux bands. In the FBCA welding process, the effective heating area of the arc is increased by at least 5 mm2 compared with that in GMAW. When the groove gap decreases, flux bands not only compress the arc from an inverted bell shape to a rectangular shape, but also make the 660 °C isotherm on the core-plate to increase from 3 mm to 8 mm. In the end, the proportion of unstable arc burning time is reduced by 86.85%, the fluctuation of arc voltage and welding current are also significantly reduced by the flux bands because of their SWCE on the arc.
Highlights
Today, energy saving and the development of environment-friendly industry are the most important topics, especially lightweight high-speed vehicles have been the focus in the field of energy saving and environmental protection
The proportion of unstable arc burning time is reduced by 86.85%, the fluctuation of arc voltage and welding current are significantly reduced by the flux bands because of their solid-wall constricting effect (SWCE) on the arc
When the flux bands are pasted on both end-sides of face-plates, the non-conductive flux bands will have a solid-wall constricting effect (SWCE) on the arc
Summary
Energy saving and the development of environment-friendly industry are the most important topics, especially lightweight high-speed vehicles have been the focus in the field of energy saving and environmental protection. Several studies indicated that narrow gap significantly affects the arc behavior and metal transfer modes, and pointed out ultimate ultra-narrow gap is bad for weld stability and weld formation without taking extra actions [17,18,19]. It is necessary to systematically study the effect of flux bands on arc behavior in the ultra-narrow gap, for obtaining stable FBCA welding process. A high-speed camera system is developed to capture the arc behavior, an arc contour extraction method is carried out to study the arc burning position and arc shape, an infrared temperature testing system is used to observe the arc heat, and a real-time electric signal acquisition system is used to analyze the arc stability of the GMAW and FBCA in ultra-narrow gap groove with different groove gaps. The results of this study will provide theoretical basis and process support for FBCA welding high-strength steel sandwich panels
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